A new study from the University of Amsterdam says what we sometimes see in our peripheral vision is just a visual illusion, and we may not notice it because our visual processing system actually fills in some of what we “see” in the periphery.
Researchers examined 20 participants who were shown a series of images. The participants focused on the center of the screen where central images appeared, and then a different peripheral image also gradually faded in and out. Participants were asked to click a computer mouse as soon as the difference between the central patch and the periphery disappeared and the entire screen appeared to be uniform.
Results reportedly showed participants incorrectly reported seeing a uniform image when the center and periphery were actually different. The researchers plan to use their results to help understand how the brain creates visual perceptual experiences.
The study was recently published in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science.
Click here to read the full press release.
Source: Association for Psychological Science